Chapter Summaries

Pomona watched Harry’s Memory of Dumbledore drinking the potion protecting Voldemort’s Horcrux and argued with Severus about Dumbledore’s sacrifice and Harry’s youth. She ended by reflecting on a collapsing world and hoping the Angel of Death would never bring judgment.

• Dumbledore and Harry reached the island and found a basin of emerald potion guarding the Horcrux, which Dumbledore concluded had to be drunk.
• Dumbledore ordered Harry to make him keep drinking if the potion incapacitated him, then drank four goblets and collapsed in terror and pain.
• Harry urged Dumbledore to continue drinking as Pomona tore herself from the Memory she had accessed through Severus’s mind.
• Pomona and Severus argued over whether Dumbledore had been a saint and whether Harry could have survived in Slytherin.
• Pomona reflected on the decline of the wizarding and Muggle worlds and hoped the Angel of Death would never sound the trumpet of Judgment.

Pomona and Severus discussed Albus, the Elder Wand, and the pain of their past choices while their intimacy exposed the conflict between them. The chapter ended with Pomona asking Severus to give her time and the two sitting together in silence as music drifted upstairs.

• Pomona questioned how Albus had trusted Tom not to poison visitors to the island, and Severus sarcastically dismissed her theory about the potion.
• Severus drank tequila, approached Pomona, and pressured her to drink and accept his touch.
• Pomona and Severus debated why the Elder Wand had not chosen Severus or the Dark Lord, and Severus recalled that Albus had begged him to kill him.
• Pomona asked why Severus had not told Albus that he cared about Harry, and Severus said he would not let Albus use his weakness again.
• Pomona admitted Albus was hard to forget and asked Severus for time; Severus said he did not want to kill Albus but feared that delay would make him suffer.
• Pomona and Severus fell silent together as piano music and a hymn came from downstairs.

Pomona learned the history of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald’s romance and examined the letters they had exchanged. Severus left her to decide whether to keep or burn them, and she wept over Grindelwald’s first letter from Nurmengard.

• Pomona read letters revealing that Albus and Grindelwald had been lovers and married before Ariana’s death led to their separation.
• She learned that Albus had kept the letters and used his Pensieve to revisit memories of Grindelwald.
• Severus told Pomona that Albus had regarded her as his daughter and asked her to decide whether the letters should be burned or kept.
• Pomona read Grindelwald’s letter dated September 10, 1951, in which he described life in Nurmengard and urged Albus to keep hating him.
• Pomona looked at the ivy bracelet on her wrist and silently cried over the letter.

Pomona and Severus discussed Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and the secrets of the past before their tender mood turned into an argument and a playful chase. Severus kept the final pages of Sirius’s letter secret, while the scattered letters ended up beside a photograph of young Grindelwald and Dumbledore.

• Pomona asked Severus whether he believed Grindelwald was dead, and Severus said Grindelwald had regretted his last words to Albus and would have wanted to tell him he loved him.
• Severus argued that Albus’s apology had made Grindelwald’s imprisonment worthwhile, and Pomona challenged his ideas about right and wrong before striking him with a cushion.
• Pomona demanded the letter Severus had found in Sirius’s room, and he admitted he had kept half of it while claiming he had burned it.
• Severus said the letter’s final pages concerned Dumbledore and Grindelwald but refused to tell Pomona what they said until the time was right.
• Pomona rejected Severus’s attempt to set household rules and ran from him, so he used magic to gather the letters and chased her through the apartment.
• The letters floated beside a history book opened to a photograph of young Dumbledore and Grindelwald standing a step apart.

Pomona reflected on the villagers of Yarm, whose choice to isolate themselves during the Black Death saved northern Britain, and considered the difference between courage and ordinary fear. She then argued with Severus before they left their London apartment to make a delivery.

• The villagers of Yarm chose to remain behind, blocked the road north, and isolated the infected during the Black Death.
• After four hundred days, the plague ended, and Yarm's survivors and descendants became known for their sacrifice and refusal of compensation.
• Pomona thought about Yarm, the Potter family’s history in Stinchcombe, and Zacharias Smith’s decision to flee when others needed him.
• Pomona recalled Theodora's refusal to flee Constantinople and judged that Zacharias could still repent, though she did not want to see him again.
• Severus emerged from the bathroom dressed in a Muggle trench coat, and he and Pomona bickered before leaving to make a delivery.

Severus and Pomona met Ma Youjiang at an abandoned London shipyard, where he inspected silver bullets and discussed bribing a member of Parliament. Severus proposed pursuing parliamentary reform to increase immigrant representation, and Ma Youjiang asked what he wanted in return.

• Ma Youjiang's subordinate lowered a Black Star after a wine bottle shattered in the dilapidated shipyard.
• Ma Youjiang examined a crate of patterned silver bullets and asked Severus how he knew they worked.
• Severus refused Ma Youjiang's cigar and heard him acknowledge plans to bribe a member of Parliament.
• Pomona worried that Ma Youjiang might turn his weapons on them, but Severus said they shared an enemy for now.
• Severus suggested parliamentary reform and more seats for immigrants instead of bribing MPs, surprising Ma Youjiang.
• Ma Youjiang asked Severus what he wanted, and Severus requested dinner and asked about Chinese dishes beyond Kung Pao Chicken.

Severus explained to Ma Youjiang how voter registration and a hung parliament could be used to influence Britain’s 2005 election, while Pomona considered the scheme’s risks. Their discussion was interrupted when Mr. Wen arrived with Chairman Lin and his son, leaving Pomona to meet the young man who reminded her of Stanton.

• Severus outlined ways to settle people without stable homes so they could register to vote, and argued that creating a hung parliament could obstruct major reforms.
• Severus discussed British party politics, anti-war sentiment, veterans, and how economic conditions could affect the election with Ma Youjiang.
• Pomona lit a 555 cigarette and smoked it without inhaling as Severus and Ma Youjiang continued their conversation.
• Pomona traded barbs with Ma Youjiang about Empress Dowager Cixi and Queen Victoria, then handed her cigarette to Severus when Mr. Wen entered.
• Mr. Wen introduced Chairman Lin and his son to Pomona, who asked whether Chairman Lin was related to Lin Zexu.

Pomona listened as the men at the Lin family dinner discussed British political history, Japan’s financial crisis, and the risks facing China and Britain, while she considered the power struggles that left ordinary people paying the price. She chose not to raise the alarm about the potential danger, leaving the chapter with her hoping people would endure the epidemic without discrimination.

• Pomona listened as Severus and the men discussed British politics and the parliamentary record showing that the April 1840 vote had been a failed motion of no confidence, not approval for war against China.
• The men explained how British merchants and the India and China Association had helped drive the Opium War, while British political factions fought over power and the Corn Laws.
• The discussion shifted to Yasushi Mieno and the Bank of Japan’s struggle with the Ministry of Finance of Japan, whose policies helped burst the bubble and burden ordinary Japanese people.
• Pomona reflected that ordinary people became stepping stones in political and financial struggles, but she kept quiet about the potential danger and focused on the feast.
• Pomona hoped people would get through the epidemic safely and stop discriminating against Wuhan residents.

Pomona reflected on power, women, and history while dining with Ma Youjiang and Severus, whose conversation over Titanic turned into a tense test of their beliefs. She left the private room with young Lin to watch the movie, escaping the strained atmosphere.

• Pomona watched men in Chinatown carry women’s bags and wondered about relationships between Chinese wizarding couples, while Ma Youjiang noticed her staring.
• Pomona considered how women shaped history and recalled Queen Victoria, Empress Dowager Cixi, and women who rallied Arab soldiers at the Battle of Yarmouk.
• Ma Youjiang offered Pomona a cigarette, but Severus interrupted and offered one from his own silver case.
• Ma Youjiang and Severus challenged each other over whether a man should die for a woman and whether love justified sacrifice, souring the room’s mood.
• Young Lin invited Pomona to watch Titanic, and she left the private room with him.

Lin Yan told Pomona the tragic story of his ancestor Lin Jingqing and discussed love, power, and resurrection with her on the way to a private screening room. As they watched Gone with the Wind, Pomona began telling Lin Yan about Chinese immigrants and the history of reform, while reflecting on Kang Youwei’s betrayals and fraud.

• Lin Yan explained that his family had no connection to Lin Zexu but traced its ancestry to Lin Jingqing, whose love for Yang Yuxiang ended with both of them dying after years apart.
• Lin Yan asked Pomona whether love could be a powerful weapon and whether resurrection suggested that God existed, and Pomona said love could hurt people deeply.
• Lin Yan opened a Victorian-style screening room, and Pomona chose to watch Gone with the Wind.
• Pomona told Lin Yan about the struggles of early Chinese immigrants in America and how those struggles contributed to the Revive China Society and the Xinhai Revolution.
• Pomona recounted how Kang Youwei ignored Emperor Guangxu’s secret order, sought Yuan Shikai’s military help, and revealed the Emperor’s plans to Empress Dowager Cixi.
• Pomona described Kang Youwei’s rise through deception and questioned whether the five young women he married could truly have been happy.

Pomona reflected on wealth, warfare, fashion, and the confidence she envied in women like Scarlett and Fleur while watching a movie with Lin Yan. She told Lin Yan not to imitate a character who tried to impress Scarlett with dessert, then gave him baffling advice about how to handle fights.

• Pomona considered how money shaped art and revolutionary politics, then compared the collapse of Tiger Fund with the risks of an oversized organization.
• Pomona thought about how mobility and weapon range shaped warfare, and recalled Japan’s costly military expansion and the dangers of restrictive skirts.
• Pomona admired Scarlett and Fleur’s confidence and remembered feeling happy at the Malfoy Manor party in a gown she had chosen herself.
• Pomona told Lin Yan not to copy the boy who brought Scarlett dessert, then asked whether he had ever fought anyone.
• Pomona advised Lin Yan to get even if he lost a fight and not to tell a teacher, leaving him confused.

The chapter reflected on the Civil War’s changing fortunes and Scarlett’s transformation as she helped Melanie escape Atlanta with Rhett Butler’s aid, then connected survival under hardship to financial speculation and the Hong Kong Financial Defense War. It left America facing the consequences of its expanding pool of capital, with tomorrow still to come.

• The chapter described how Northern manpower and industry overcame Southern military advantages as the Civil War shifted toward emancipation and eventual Union victory.
• Scarlett helped Melanie give birth and sought Rhett Butler’s help to escape Atlanta, while reflecting on how war had made her responsible and resilient.
• Scarlett and Rhett reached the ruined Tara, and the chapter recalled their first exchange and their shared selfishness and cunning.
• The chapter connected survival through deception to Soros’s childhood and his use of market panic to attack the Thai baht.
• The chapter described speculators’ attack on Hong Kong and the defenders’ successful financial resistance, then warned that American capital could invite Eastern speculators in turn.

During an intermission from Gone with the Wind, Pomona and Lin Yan debated Scarlett’s choices, wealth, and the novel’s characters before Lin Yan reflected on people who lived as if trapped in someone else’s script. When the film resumed, Lin Yan urged Pomona to be an ordinary woman and left the screening room.

• Pomona questioned Lin Yan about how he would survive in postwar Atlanta, and explained why Scarlett chose the lumber business instead of buying a house.
• Pomona and Lin Yan discussed Scarlett’s ambition, the cotton tax, and the danger of losing Tara.
• Lin Yan argued that Scarlett and Melanie were fictional characters and that the war had driven people to behave irrationally.
• Lin Yan told Pomona that he often saw people forcing themselves to act elegant and wondered whether he was living inside someone else’s script.
• As the film resumed with the South’s defeat and two former aristocrats working in a cotton field, Lin Yan told Pomona to be an ordinary woman and left the screening room.

Pomona reflected on Scarlett and Melanie, arguing that women needed different ways to survive and that Melanie’s kindness might conceal pain. Severus drew Pomona into a tango, while she recognized her own dependence on protection and questioned Draco’s claim to the Wand of Destiny.

• Pomona contrasted Su’s choice to buy a home with Scarlett’s decision to invest in a lumber mill and build a business.
• Severus entered the screening room, and Pomona challenged him about Lin Yan’s criticism of her and his views on fairness.
• Pomona explained that she believed Melanie’s kindness and tolerance helped her survive, then wept over the pain of women betrayed by loved ones.
• Severus invited Pomona to dance the tango and told her that Voldemort had taught him ballroom dancing.
• Pomona stomped on Severus’s foot, let him lift her as they danced, and reflected that she lacked Scarlett’s courage and needed protection.

Pomona and Severus danced tango while the chapter traced tulip mania, economic speculation, and the history of British and American conflicts. As they planned to visit a flower market, Pomona briefly thought she saw Bellatrix in the dark screening room.

• The chapter recounted how tulip speculation spread through the Netherlands before prices collapsed in 1637 and authorities suspended trading.
• It described the California Gold Rush, the American economic crisis of 1857, and the transfer of India from the East India Company to Queen Victoria.
• Pomona danced tango with Severus, learned the steps quickly, and asked whether the Dark Lord had taught him to dance.
• Severus avoided discussing a former dance partner and asked Pomona where she wanted to go afterward.
• Pomona chose the flower market, and she briefly thought she saw Bellatrix in the dark screening room.

Pomona and Severus visited the Columbia Road flower market, where Pomona bought flowers and unexpectedly met Susan Bones. They learned Susan was helping Ernie Macmillan teach Patronus protection at the Hog’s Head, and the chapter ended with Severus admitting he was tired of being a chess piece as they continued through the market.

• Pomona bought orchids and other flowers to brighten her apartment.
• Severus pointed out Susan Bones at a neighboring stall, and Pomona greeted her while disguised by a Glamour Charm.
• Susan told Pomona that she had left the Aurors and was helping Ernie Macmillan teach Patronus protection in Hogsmeade.
• Severus joked about Aberforth discovering the Hog’s Head’s transformation, while Pomona regretted what her former students had done to the pub.
• Pomona asked Severus whether he still wanted power, and he said he was tired of being a chess piece before putting an arm around her shoulders.

Pomona and Severus visited Columbia Road’s flower market, where they stopped at a café and unexpectedly encountered Ma Qingchen. The meeting left Pomona questioning what she really knew about Ma Qingchen and Zhang Tao.

• Pomona and Severus browsed the flower market, but many stalls began packing up before they had finished.
• Pomona and Severus heard “Down by the Salley Gardens” playing in a café, and Severus suggested they go inside.
• Severus told Pomona that she and Draco were the only people he cared to save, while Lucius could look after himself.
• Pomona and Severus entered the café and recognized Ma Qingchen working behind the counter.
• Pomona reconsidered her assumptions about Zhang Tao’s wealth and her own ability to judge people.

Pomona and Severus discussed desire, freedom, and their past while sitting at a café, where they encountered Ma Qingchen, Zhang Tao’s adopted daughter. Severus admitted he had known she worked there and suspected her of involvement in the stolen antiques case, leaving Pomona to urge him not to harm her without cause.

• Pomona reflected on Ma Qingchen’s resemblance to herself and on the constrained lives of women such as Nagini, Astoria, and Lily.
• Severus asked Pomona what she thought of Ma Qingchen, and Pomona considered how freedom could awaken desires people had once suppressed.
• Pomona and Severus discussed Albus’s relationship with Grindelwald, and Severus said Albus had followed his heart during his happiest months.
• Severus told Pomona that his growing desire for her had once led him to want Sirius Black dead, then warned her not to cross the line between them.
• Severus revealed that he knew Ma Qingchen worked at the café and the British Museum, and that he suspected her in the stolen antiques case despite lacking evidence.
• Pomona told Severus to do what he thought right but not to hurt Ma Qingchen, while Severus said his response depended on what she had done.

Pomona and Severus followed Ma Qingchen to a small theater, where she watched a dance performance being prepared for an exhibition about the Terracotta Army. The performance left Pomona reflecting on motherhood and her feelings for Severus, and they learned that its music came from the film Hero.

• Severus explained that Ma Qingchen was rehearsing a performance for the British Museum’s Terracotta Army exhibition, so she was traveling to the theater instead of Apparating.
• Pomona reflected on her lost pregnancy and her uncertainty about motherhood as she and Severus followed Ma Qingchen through the old theater.
• Severus apologized for leaving Pomona alone when she was pregnant, and she leaned against him as they entered the hall.
• Pomona and Severus watched an Asian pair dance to violin music in costumes blending ballet and Kun opera styles.
• Pomona asked an actor about the song, and he identified it as “All Under Heaven,” an insert song from Hero.

Pomona reflected on Chinese history, culture, and the limits of pursuing immortality while attending a rehearsal with Severus. After learning that a student had brewed Amortentia in the dormitory, she went backstage with him to inspect Ma Qingchen’s belongings.

• Pomona watched young performers rehearse and considered how their work might be misunderstood by audiences unfamiliar with its artistic conception.
• Pomona recalled the dangers of crossing boundaries in matters of life, death, and inheritance, and contrasted Chinese ideas of immortality with Voldemort’s creation of a new body.
• Pomona realized that someone had brewed Amortentia in a dormitory, and she punched Severus while accusing him of teaching students to make it.
• Severus told Pomona to go backstage with him to inspect Ma Qingchen’s things, and she reluctantly agreed.
• Pomona watched Ma Qingchen perform in practice clothes and reflected on the history and values behind Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army.